The Kennedy Family is the closest thing the United States has ever had to a Royal Family. Fascination surrounding this famous family has yet to die down, even 50 years after John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
Whether the nation is speculating about JFK’s relationship with wife, Jackie Kennedy, or one of his various rumored affairs with Marilyn Monroe, there is no doubt that the Kennedy Family is still one of the most famous and popular families in the U.S.
The family has had great accomplishments, and terrible tragedies. A timeline of these tragedies dates back to 1941, and continues through the 2010’s. Is there a real Kennedy curse? You be the judge.
Kennedy Curse: A Timeline Of Tragic Events
1941 – Kennedy Patriarch, Joe, orders his eldest daughter Rosemary Kennedy to have a lobotomy. Rosemary, who never mentally developed past an eight year old level, was never the same after the surgical procedure.
1944 – The Kennedy Family’s oldest child, Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr, who was chosen for political greatness by his father, was killed in a mid-air explosion while on a bombing mission over England.
1948 – Kathleen Kennedy, JFK’s sister, died in a plane crash four years after her wedding to William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington.
1955 – John F. Kennedy and Jackie give birth to a stillborn daughter who they had planned to name Arabella.
1961 – Joe Kennedy Sr. suffers massive stroke. The head of the family was rendered virtually paralyzed by the stroke, also unable to speak.
1963 – Jackie and John F. Kennedy’s newborn son dies. The couple’s second son, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy died at the age of 2 days old.
1963 – JFK is assassinated in Dallas, Texas. The 35th President of the United States was shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald, leaving the nation stunned.
1964 – Edward “Ted” Kennedy involved in a fatal plane crash. Ted breaks his back and suffers hours upon hours of long and painful rehabilitation.
1968 – Robert “Bobby” Kennedy was shot and killed in LA while celebrating his Presidential candidacy.
1969 – Ted Kennedy driving a car, crashes into the water, leaving one woman dead.
1969 – Kennedy father, Joseph Patrick Kennedy Sr dies.
1973 – Ted Kennedy Jr loses his leg to cancer at a very young age.
1973 – Bobby Kennedy’s son, Joe Kennedy III, involved in car accident leaves one woman paralyzed.
1984 – Bobby Kennedy’s son, David Kennedy, dies after a drug overdose.
1991 – William Kennedy Smith, Jean Kennedy’s son, was tried for rape and later found innocent.
1994 – Jackie Kennedy Onassis dies of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at age 64.
1997 – Michael Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy’s son, dies in a fatal ski accident. In the months before his death, he was investigated for statutory rape, for allegedly sleeping with his children’s babysitter, and checked himself into a rehab clinic for alcoholism.
1999 – John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Bessette die in a plane crash. The nation is stunned, and the hopes of yet another JFK in the white house are gone.
2008 – Ted Kennedy is diagnosed with brain cancer.
2009 – Ted Kennedy dies after losing his battle with cancer.
2011 – Ted Kennedy’s only daughter, Kara Kennedy-Allen, dies at age 51 while working out at a health club.
2012 – Mary Kennedy, wife of Robert Kennedy Jr. comits suicide by hanging herself on her property.
Whether you believe in the Kennedy Family Curse or not, it’s undeniable that this famous family has had an amazing amount of tragedies in their lives.
